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I met June Seese in a class on writing fiction. As a teacher, one of my biggest kicks was that moment when the writers first read something they'd written. It was a nervous time-many writers shaking inside, for the first time showing their work to strangers, sympathetic, but nonetheless, strangers. June was remarkable. What has flowered since was already sturdy, strong distinct. She read with a confidence that moved beyond the personal, a faith outside herself in the certainty of her work. Here was a writer who had risen to that essential power where her work becomes necessary to her, a gift as sure and heedless as her pulse. She was right on track, and would move, beyond discouragement or criticism or even appreciation, into the strength, that difficult ease that's the mark of a writer who will continue regardless, achieving an undeniable, unmistakable voice.

What makes a writer? Originality, a delighted care for language, a commitment to push words into new music and finally into pure emotion. June has these gifts-and her writing's strengths- toughness, speed, lyricism, observation acuity and, ultimately, a compassion that's never unsteady, never weak-make her the best kind of writer-impatient, hip, timely and transcending. -Paul Evans, Editor, Southline Press